A Practice for Lent

We enter the season of Lent.

Most folks immediately associate this liturgical season with giving things up—stereotypically things we really enjoy (like chocolate or McDonalds)—as a sacrifice—not too painful—to prepare for Easter. Although, in this increasingly secular time and place, the Easter part is sometimes forgotten. 

Actually, Lent is ancient. Sometime around the year 300, it came into regular practice. It began as a solemn observance in which the Church experienced the 40 day fast of Jesus in the wilderness, entering a period of deprivation meant to purify the practitioners of all that would keep them from being fully present for God and service to Christ. 

That would go a lot further than forgoing a few Hershey bars.

We need times of purification—not because we are inherently bad, or even because we collect layers of tarnish—i.e., mistakes, missteps, misdeeds—that we need to polish away. We need times of purification to recenter ourselves.

“Re-centering” may be a new idea. 

To re-center means to reorient our lives on their true center—the core that brings meaning, purpose, and value to what we do and are. For us within the faith community of Jesus, that means to re-center on the way of Jesus—the way of self-emptying compassion that seeks to serve others as we are served by Jesus. We orient what we say and do on how what we say and do effects someone else. In its simplest form, it is centering our lives on the Golden Rule—do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Added to that is the recognition that to truly be able to live by the Golden Rule, we need to be centered on the presence of God with us. 

What that means for us is that we need to take the time to insert intentional meetings with God throughout the day, the week, and into the month, until such meetings are no longer something extra, but actually form the central part of our working routine by which we live.

Now we begin to see what really needs to be set aside—sacrificed—in Lent. We need to set aside all that keeps us from being able to meet with God regularly, daily, and continually. That means working to eliminate distractions—e.g., 30 checks with FaceBook or Instagram a day. That means making sure meetings with God are something we share with family, dear ones, and those with whom we hope to have stronger connections—e.g., gathering with one’s church family as a family. That means paying attention to how we interact with the world, eliminating those habits or practices that lead us away from being able to be present and open with other people, especially people different from ourselves—e.g., forgoing an internet political debate with total strangers on social media. That means spending time actually reading the Bible—e.g., not just the stories we like, but tackling the tough stuff that bothers us. That means praying, maybe even trying new ways of praying—e.g., sitting silently for, first, 60 seconds, then maybe lengthening that time over the weeks of Lent. 

You see, Lent can be a rich, rewarding, and re-energizing practice if we see it for what it actually is. 

So, enter it fully, intentionally, and ready to learn.

It will make Easter all the better.